CVS Health upgraded to Strong Buy on Aetna deal, valuation at Raymond James

Raymond James analyst John Ransom upgraded CVS (CVS) to Strong Buy from Outperform and maintained a $90 price target. Ransom has increased conviction in the Aetna (AET) deal and believes the Street's implied probability of 40% likelihood of receiving regulatory approval is too low. Further, the analyst said CVS is poised for growth in 2018 given easier comps, an increase in Medicare Part D lives, and tax reform, and views valuation as attractive.

01/04/18

RAJA

01/04/18UPGRADERAJAStrong Buy

CVS Health upgraded to Strong Buy from Outperform at Raymond James

01/03/18

PIPR

01/03/18UPGRADETarget $207PIPROverweight

Aetna upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at Piper Jaffray

Piper Jaffray analyst Sarah James upgraded Aetna (AET) to Overweight and raised her price target for the shares to $207 from $187. The analyst sees a potential "win-win" scenario surrounding the outcome of the CVS Health (CVS) buyout. If the deal goes through James sees 15% share upside. If the deal does not go through, Aetna is set up for "strong operational performance" with stock appreciation potential of 15% by year end, the analyst contends.

01/02/18

NEED

01/02/18NO CHANGETarget $88NEEDBuy

CVS Health will have multiple 2018 catalysts, says Needham

Needham analyst Kevin Caliendo raised his price target on CVS Health (CVS) to $88 from $85 while keeping his Buy rating. Caliendo says he has been frustrated on the lack of movement in the stock following the Aetna (AET) merger announcement, attributing "investor apathy" to confusion over the management's guidance and lack of clarity around the tax reform impact. The analyst estimates that the company's corporate tax rate will move to about 26% from 39% and also models about $1 in net positive EPS accretion from the Aetna deal in 2019. Caliendo lists the company's S-4 filing in early January and the road show promoting the merger as key catalysts in the near term.

Leerink analyst Ana Gupte views the CMS 2019 Medicare Advantage Payment Notice with Methodological Changes on Risk Adjusters as a likely positive precursor to the actual rate change and a positive catalyst. The analyst believes the notice is most positive for Humana (HUM), UnitedHealth (UNH) and WellCare (WCG), but also positive for the sector as a whole including Aetna (AET), Cigna (CI), Anthem (ANTM), Centene (CNC) and Molina Healthcare (MOH). The notice offers a change in the risk adjustment methodology that is more industry friendly than the status quo and this combined with a 4% underlying cost trend expectation should offer a positive advance rate announcement in February and final in April. Gupte also expects that the Republican Administration will drive tax reform as part of an imperative to reaccelerate what is likely irreversible privatization of Medicare, after the slowdown as part of the budget cuts in the era of ObamaCare.

12/20/17

MSCO

12/20/17DOWNGRADETarget $207MSCOEqual Weight

Aetna downgraded to Equal Weight from Overweight at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst Zack Sopcak downgraded Aetna (AET) to Equal Weight from Overweight and increased his price target on the stock to $207 from $192, stating that he see it as unlikely that the company will get other bids to challenge CVS Health (CVS).